Homestead native and former President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate Orrin Hatch dies at 88
SALT LAKE CITY (KDKA) - Former United States Senator Orrin Hatch has died.
The Orrin G. Hatch Foundation announced his death on Saturday night, he was 88-years-old.
"Senator Hatch was a gentleman, statesman, and a proud son of Pennsylvania," Senator Pat Toomey said in a tweet. "My deepest condolences go out to the entire Hatch family and to all who knew and loved him."
Senator Hatch served in the United States Senate from 1977 until 2019.
He was born on March 22, 1934, in Homestead. He became the first member of his family to attend college when he attended Brigham Young University and then his J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1962.
Hatch was first elected in 1976 when he defeated Democrat Frank Moss.
He was subsequently re-elected in 1982, 1988, 1994, 2000, 2006, and 2012.
Then, in January 2018, Hatch announced his retirement from the U.S. Senate and did not seek re-election.